JP2007241061A - Optical device and projector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical device and a projector capable of contributing to a weight reduction. <P>SOLUTION: The optical unit 4 comprises: an image forming apparatus 440 having liquid crystal panels 441 and cross dichroic prisms 444 integrally; and an optical component housing 5 in which a plurality of optical elements are arranged in predetermined positions on illuminating optical axis, the optical elements having the set illuminating optical axis for a luminous flux and composing an electric optical device 44 and optical components 41 to 43. The optical component housing 5 includes: a component accommodating member 51 for accommodating the plurality of optical elements in the predetermined positions on the illuminating optical axis; and a hold cover body 52 disposed so as to cover an opening 511 for accommodating the optical elements, made in the component accommodating member 51 and suspending and holding the image forming apparatus 440, thereby disposing it in the predetermined position on the illuminating optical axis in the component accommodating member 51. The hold cover body 52 presses at least one of the optical elements, accommodated in the component accommodating member 51, against the component accommodating member 51. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical device and a projector.

  Conventionally, a light source lamp, a plurality of liquid crystal panels that modulate a light beam emitted from the light source lamp according to image information, a prism that combines a light beam modulated by the liquid crystal panel to form a color image (optical image), and a prism A projector including a projection lens that magnifies and projects an optical image synthesized in step (1) onto a screen is used (for example, see Patent Document 1).

In such a projector, the light beam emitted from the light source lamp is separated by a color separation optical device and a color separation optical device that separates the light beam into red, green, and blue color light before entering the liquid crystal panel. The red light is optically converted by a plurality of optical elements constituting a relay optical device that guides the red light to the liquid crystal panel. Further, the projector includes an optical component housing in which an illumination optical axis of a light beam emitted from the light source lamp is set, and a plurality of optical elements, a liquid crystal panel, and a prism are accommodated and disposed at a predetermined position on the illumination optical axis. ing.
The optical component casing is composed of a box-shaped component storage member that stores and arranges the plurality of optical elements, a liquid crystal panel, and a prism, and a lid-shaped member that covers an opening of the component storage member. Furthermore, since heat is generated in the optical element as the projector is driven, the optical component casing is made of a heat-resistant material.

  In the projector described in Patent Document 1, an image forming apparatus is configured in which a liquid crystal panel is fixed to each of three light flux incident end faces of a prism. The image forming apparatus is placed on the bottom surface of the component storage member at a predetermined position of the illumination optical axis set in the component storage member.

JP-A-2005-234126

  However, in the projector described in Patent Document 1, since the optical component casing is configured to include a component storage member and a lid-like member, the optical component casing becomes heavy, which is an obstructive factor in reducing the projector weight. It was.

  The objective of this invention is providing the optical apparatus and projector which can implement | achieve weight reduction.

  The optical device of the present invention includes a plurality of optical elements that optically convert an incident light beam, a light modulation device that modulates a light beam incident through the plurality of optical elements according to image information, and the light modulation device An image forming apparatus integrally including a prism that combines the light flux modulated in step S1 to form an optical image, and an illumination optical axis of the light flux is set, and the plurality of optical elements and the image forming apparatus are placed on the illumination optical axis. An optical device including an optical component casing disposed at a predetermined position, wherein the optical component casing includes an optical element storage opening for storing the plurality of optical elements, and the optical element. At a predetermined position on the illumination optical axis, and a component storage member that covers a part of the optical element storage opening with respect to the component storage member. In front of parts storage A holding member disposed at a predetermined position on the illumination optical axis, wherein the holding member presses at least one of the optical elements housed in the component housing member against the component housing member. Features.

According to the present invention, since the holding member suspends and holds the image forming apparatus, it is not necessary to place and fix the image forming apparatus in the component housing member. For this reason, the space in the component storage member in which the image forming apparatus is mounted in the projector described in Patent Document 1 can be cut out. Thus, the component housing member can be reduced in weight. Therefore, the optical device can be reduced in weight.
Further, since the image forming apparatus is integrated with the holding member, a member for holding the image forming apparatus, such as the projector described in Patent Document 1, and a member covering the optical element storage opening are separately provided. There is no need to provide it. Therefore, the number of parts when assembling the optical device can be reduced.

The holding member is provided so as to cover only a part of the optical element storage opening of the component storage member, that is, a necessary portion for holding the image forming apparatus. Therefore, the optical device can be reduced in weight as compared with a lid-like member that covers almost the entire surface of the component element housing opening of the component housing member, such as the projector described in Patent Document 1. Furthermore, since the air permeability in the component housing member can be improved, it is possible to improve the heat dissipation and cooling of the heat generated in the optical element.
In addition, since the holding member holds at least one of the optical elements stored in the component storage member against the component storage member, it is possible to prevent the optical element from rattling, displacement, dropout, and the like. . Furthermore, since it is not necessary to separately provide a member for holding the optical element in the optical device, the number of parts of the optical device can be reduced.

  In the present invention, the optical component housing is provided so as to cover a part of the optical element storage opening with respect to the component storage member, and among the plurality of optical elements stored in the component storage member, It is preferable to provide a pressing member that presses at least one of them onto the component storage member.

According to the present invention, since the pressing member presses at least one of the optical elements stored in the component storage member to the component storage member, the optical element is prevented from rattling, displacement, dropout, and the like. be able to.
Furthermore, the pressing member is provided so as to cover only a part of the optical element storage opening of the component storage member, that is, a portion necessary for pressing the optical element. Therefore, the optical device can be reduced in weight as compared with a lid-like member that covers almost the entire surface of the optical element housing opening of the optical component housing as in the projector described in Patent Document 1. Furthermore, since the air permeability in the component housing member can be improved, it is possible to improve the heat dissipation and cooling of the heat generated in the optical element.
Further, since the optical element is pressed by the two parts of the holding member and the pressing member, a heat-resistant material having a large mass may be used only for the member that suppresses the optical element that becomes high temperature. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the weight and cost of the optical device.

  In the present invention, the plurality of optical elements include a plurality of first lenses in a plane substantially orthogonal to the optical axis of the incident light beam, and the plurality of first lenses divide the light beam into a plurality of partial light beams. A first lens array; a second lens array having a plurality of second lenses corresponding to the plurality of first lenses of the first lens array; and a first lens array disposed on a light beam exit side of the first lens array, A polarization conversion element that aligns the polarization direction of the light beam emitted from the light beam into substantially one type, and a superimposing lens that superimposes the incident light beam on each image forming region of the plurality of light modulation devices together with the second lens array, It is preferable that the pressing member holds at least one of the first lens array, the second lens array, the polarization conversion element, and the superimposing lens against the component housing member. There.

  According to the present invention, the optical device includes a first lens array, a second lens array, a polarization conversion element, and a superimposing lens array as optical elements. Here, when the light modulation device is configured to modulate only a light beam having a predetermined polarization direction, the polarization conversion element converts the partial light beam divided by the first lens array into the predetermined polarization direction. The light utilization rate in the light modulation device can be increased. The superimposing lens superimposes the incident light beam on the image forming area of the light modulation device together with the second lens array. Thereby, the image forming area of the light modulation device can be illuminated uniformly. Further, the pressing member presses any one of these optical elements against the component housing member, thereby preventing the deviation of the light flux in the image forming area of the light modulation device.

In the present invention, as the plurality of optical elements, a plurality of separation optical elements that separate incident light beams into a plurality of color lights are provided, and the holding member includes at least one of the plurality of separation optical elements as the component storage member. It is preferable to hold down.
According to the present invention, the optical device includes a plurality of separation optical elements. For example, the light beams can be modulated by the light modulators by separating the incident light flux into the color lights corresponding to the number of the light modulators by the plurality of separation optical elements. Furthermore, a color image can be formed by combining the color light modulated by each light modulation device with a prism.
Further, since the holding member presses any one of these separation optical elements against the component housing member to prevent the element from being displaced, a stable optical image can be formed on the prism.

In the present invention, the plurality of optical elements include a plurality of amplifying optical elements that amplify the intensity of an incident light beam, and the holding member holds at least one of the plurality of amplifying optical elements against the component housing member. It is preferable.
According to the present invention, the optical device includes a plurality of amplification optical elements that amplify the intensity of the incident light beam as the optical elements. For example, when a light path of a light beam incident on a predetermined light modulation device among a plurality of light modulation devices is longer than a light path of a light beam incident on another light modulation device, the plurality of amplification optical elements are provided in the light path of the light beam. By disposing the light beam, the light beam can be incident on a predetermined light modulation device without reducing the intensity. Thus, it is possible to prevent the deterioration of the optical image synthesized by the prism.
Furthermore, since the holding member presses any one of these amplification optical elements against the component housing member to prevent the element from being displaced, a stable optical image can be formed on the prism.

A projector according to the present invention includes a light source, and modulates a light beam emitted from the light source to form an optical image and a projection for enlarging and projecting the optical image formed by the optical device. And an optical device.
According to the present invention, it is possible to achieve the same effect as that of the optical device described above. Specifically, in the projector according to the present invention, since the image forming apparatus is suspended and held by the holding member, a space in the component storage member on which the image forming apparatus is placed can be cut out. Can be reduced in weight. By providing this lightened optical device, it is possible to reduce the weight of the projector.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[Configuration of Projector 1]
FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing the internal configuration of the projector 1.
As shown in FIG. 1, the projector 1 includes an exterior housing 2, a projection lens 3 as a projection optical device disposed in the exterior housing 2, an optical unit 4 as an optical device, and cooling for air-cooling the optical unit 4. A unit (not shown), a power supply unit (not shown) for supplying power to each component in the projector 1, a control board (not shown) for controlling these components, and the like, have an overall substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. Yes.
Among these, the projection lens 3 enlarges and projects a color image (optical image) synthesized by a cross dichroic prism 444 of the optical unit 4 described later.

[Detailed Configuration of Optical Unit 4]
As shown in FIG. 1, the optical unit 4 is a unit that optically processes a light beam emitted from the light source lamp 416 to form an optical image according to image information. An optical device 42, a relay optical device 43, an electro-optical device 44, and an optical component housing 5 in which these optical components 41 to 44 are disposed.

  The integrator illuminating optical device 41 is an optical system for illuminating the image forming areas of the three liquid crystal panels 441 constituting the electro-optical device 44 substantially uniformly, and includes a light source device 411, a first lens array 412, A two-lens array 413, a polarization conversion element 414, and a superimposing lens 415 are provided.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the light source device 411 includes a light source lamp 416 as a light source that emits a radial light beam, a reflector 417 that reflects and converges the emitted light emitted from the light source lamp 416 to a predetermined position, and a reflector 417. And a collimating concave lens 418 that collimates the light beam converged at (1) with respect to the illumination optical axis A. As the light source lamp 416, a halogen lamp, a metal halide lamp, or a high-pressure mercury lamp is frequently used. Further, the reflector 417 is composed of an ellipsoidal reflector having a spheroidal surface, but may be composed of a parabolic reflector having a rotational paraboloid. In this case, the collimating concave lens 418 is omitted.

  The first lens array 412 has a configuration in which small lenses having a substantially rectangular outline as viewed from the optical axis direction of the incident light beam are arranged in a matrix. Each small lens splits the light beam emitted from the light source lamp 416 into a plurality of partial light beams. The contour shape of each small lens is set so as to be almost similar to the shape of the image forming area of the liquid crystal panel 441.

  The second lens array 413 has a configuration similar to that of the first lens array 412, and has a configuration in which small lenses are arranged in a matrix. The second lens array 413 has a function of forming an image of each small lens of the first lens array 412 on the liquid crystal panel 441 together with the superimposing lens 415 disposed at the subsequent stage of the second lens array 413.

  The polarization conversion element 414 is disposed between the second lens array 413 and the superimposing lens 415. The polarization conversion element 414 converts the light from the second lens array 413 into one type of polarized light, thereby improving the light use efficiency in the electro-optical device 44.

  Specifically, each partial light converted into one type of polarized light by the polarization conversion element 414 is finally superimposed on the liquid crystal panel 441 of the electro-optical device 44 by the superimposing lens 415. In the projector 1 using the liquid crystal panel 441 of the type that modulates polarized light, only one type of polarized light can be used, and therefore approximately half of the luminous flux from the light source lamp 416 that emits other types of randomly polarized light is not used. For this reason, by using the polarization conversion element 414, all the light beams emitted from the light source lamp 416 are converted into one kind of polarized light, and the use efficiency of light in the electro-optical device 44 is enhanced.

The color separation optical device 42 includes an ultraviolet filter 420, two dichroic mirrors 421 and 422 as separation optical elements, and a reflection mirror 423, and a plurality of light emitted from the integrator illumination optical device 41 by the dichroic mirrors 421 and 422. Has a function of separating the partial luminous flux into three color lights of red (R), green (G), and blue (B).
Note that the ultraviolet filter 420 has a function of blocking ultraviolet rays contained in the light flux separated by the dichroic mirror 421 and preventing the subsequent liquid crystal panel 441 and the polarizing plates 442 and 443 from being irradiated with ultraviolet rays.

  The relay optical device 43 includes an incident side lens 431 as an amplification optical element, a relay lens 433, and reflection mirrors 432 and 434, and guides red light, which is color light separated by the color separation optical device 42, to the liquid crystal panel 441R. It has a function.

  At this time, the dichroic mirror 421 of the color separation optical device 42 transmits the red light component and the green light component and reflects the blue light component of the light beam emitted from the integrator illumination optical device 41. The blue light reflected by the dichroic mirror 421 is reflected by the reflection mirror 423, passes through the field lens 419, and reaches the blue liquid crystal panel 441B. The field lens 419 converts each partial light beam emitted from the second lens array 413 into a light beam parallel to the central axis (principal ray). The same applies to the field lens 419 provided on the light incident side of the other liquid crystal panels 441G and 441R.

Of the red light and green light transmitted through the dichroic mirror 421, the green light is reflected by the dichroic mirror 422, passes through the field lens 419, and reaches the green liquid crystal panel 441G. On the other hand, the red light passes through the dichroic mirror 422, passes through the relay optical device 43, passes through the field lens 419, and reaches the liquid crystal panel 441R for red light.
The reason why the relay optical device 43 is used for red light is that the optical path length of red light is longer than the optical path lengths of the other color lights, so that the light utilization efficiency is prevented from being reduced due to light divergence or the like. It is. That is, this is to transmit the partial light beam incident on the incident side lens 431 to the field lens 419 as it is. The relay optical device 43 is configured to pass red light of the three color lights, but is not limited thereto, and may be configured to pass blue light, for example.
The integrator illumination optical device 41, the color separation optical device 42, and the relay optical device 43 described so far correspond to the optical elements of the present invention.

  The electro-optical device 44 modulates an incident light beam according to image information. Three incident-side polarizing plates 442 on which the respective color lights separated by the color separation optical device 42 are incident, and liquid crystal panels 441R, 441G, 441B (red) as light modulation devices arranged at the subsequent stage of the respective incident-side polarizing plates 442 A liquid crystal panel for light 441R, a liquid crystal panel for green light 441G, and a liquid crystal panel for blue light 441B), and three exit-side polarizations arranged at the subsequent stage of each liquid crystal panel 441R, 441G, 441B. A plate 443 and a cross dichroic prism 444 as a prism are provided.

  The incident-side polarizing plate 442 transmits only the changed light having the polarization axis in the same direction as the polarization axis aligned by the polarization conversion element 414 among the respective color lights separated by the color separation optical device 42 and absorbs other light beams. In other words, a polarizing film is attached to a translucent substrate such as sapphire glass. Further, a polarizing film may be attached to the field lens 419 without using a light-transmitting substrate.

The liquid crystal panels 441R, 441G, and 441B have a configuration in which a liquid crystal that is an electro-optical material is hermetically sealed in a pair of transparent glass substrates, and controls the alignment state of the liquid crystal in the image forming area according to image information. The polarization direction of the polarized light beam emitted from the incident side polarizing plate 441 is modulated.
The exit-side polarizing plate 443 is configured in substantially the same manner as the incident-side polarizing plate 442, and has a polarization axis orthogonal to the polarization axis of the light beam in the incident-side polarizing plate 442 among the light beams emitted from the image forming area of the liquid crystal panel 441. It transmits only the light beam it has and absorbs other light beams.

The cross dichroic prism 444 forms a color image by combining light beams emitted from the emission-side polarizing plate 443 and modulated for each color light.
The cross dichroic prism 444 is provided with a dielectric multilayer film that reflects red light and a dielectric multilayer film that reflects blue light in a substantially X shape along the interface of four right-angle prisms. Three color lights are synthesized by the multilayer film.
The electro-optical device 44 includes a holding member for fixing the liquid crystal panel 441 and the emission-side polarizing plate 443 to the light-incident-side end surface of the cross dichroic prism 444. The holding member constitutes an image forming apparatus 440 (FIG. 4) in which the cross dichroic prism 444, the liquid crystal panel 441, and the exit-side polarizing plate 443 are integrated.

[Configuration of optical component casing 5]
The optical component housing 5 has the illumination optical axis A of the light beam output from the light source device 411 set therein, and houses each optical element of the optical unit 4 and arranges it at a predetermined position on the illumination optical axis A.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the optical component housing 5 in which the optical unit 4 is disposed as viewed from above.
As shown in FIG. 2, the optical component housing 5 includes a component storage member 51, a holding cover body 52 as a holding member, and a cover body 53 as a pressing member.
As described above, in the image forming apparatus 440, the incident-side polarizing plate 442, the liquid crystal panel 441, and the emission-side polarizing plate 443 are fixed to the light beam incident-side end surface of the cross dichroic prism 444 via a holding member or the like. It has a structure.

[Configuration of Component Storage Member 51]
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the component storage member 51 as viewed from above.
The component storage member 51 stores the optical components 41 to 43 and the incident-side polarizing plate 442 at a predetermined position on the illumination optical axis of the light beam emitted from the light source device 411 (FIG. 1).
As shown in FIG. 3, the component storage member 51 has a substantially F shape in plan view. Specifically, the component storage member 51 includes a portion extending linearly from the first lens array 412 to the reflection mirror 432 and two protruding portions protruding in an orthogonal direction from the straight portion, that is, the dichroic mirror 421 to the reflection mirror. A portion extending to 423 and a portion extending from the reflecting mirror 432 to the reflecting mirror 434 are formed, and a space S sandwiched between the two protruding portions is cut out.

The component storage member 51 includes an optical element storage opening 511 for storing the optical components 41 to 43 and the incident-side polarizing plate 442 therein, and each optical element constituting the optical components 41 to 43 is provided on the inner wall surface. And the groove | channel 512 in which the side edge part of the incident side polarizing plate 442 is inserted is formed.
The groove 512 is formed for all the optical elements stored in the component storage member 51. The optical elements 41 to 43 of the optical components 41 and the incident-side polarizing plate 442 are accommodated in the predetermined arrangement positions of the component accommodating member 51 by inserting the side end portions into the grooves 512.
In addition, springs (not shown) are interposed between the side ends of the dichroic mirrors 421 and 422 and the reflection mirrors 423, 432, and 434 and the groove 512, and the dichroic mirrors 421 and 422 and the reflection mirrors 423 and 432 are interposed. , 434 are positioned at predetermined positions by this spring. Further, this spring makes it difficult for the impact received by the component storage member 51 to be transmitted to the dichroic mirrors 421, 422 and the reflection mirrors 423, 432, 434.

  A plurality of screw holes 51 </ b> A and 51 </ b> B are formed on the upper surface of the side wall of the component storage member 51. Positioning projections 51C are provided on the upper surface of the side wall of the component storage member 51 on both sides of the field lens 419 corresponding to the liquid crystal panel 441G (FIG. 1).

[Configuration of Holding Cover Body 52]
Next, the configuration of the holding cover body 52 will be described.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the holding cover body 52 and the image forming apparatus 440 as viewed from above (on the side opposite to the component storage member 51).
As shown in FIG. 4, the holding cover body 52 has a substantially triangular shape in plan view. For convenience of explanation, the vertex closest to the liquid crystal panel 441G of the holding cover 52 is E, F is the vertex closest to the liquid crystal panel 441R, and G is the vertex closest to the liquid crystal panel 441B.
As shown in FIG. 4, the holding cover body 52 has a plurality of openings 522 and openings 523, a plurality of pressing portions 524, and three attachment pieces 525.

Among these, the three openings 522 have a substantially trapezoidal shape as shown in FIG. 4, and are formed in the vicinity of the side D connecting the vertex F and the vertex G of the holding cover body 52.
The lower surface of the substantially square-shaped region surrounded by the side D of the main body 521 and these three openings 522 is a prism bonding surface 526 (FIG. 5) to which the upper end surface of the cross dichroic prism 444 is bonded and fixed. The upper end surface of the cross dichroic prism 444 is bonded and fixed to the prism bonding surface 526, so that the image forming apparatus 440 is suspended and held on the lower surface of the holding cover body 52.
2, the opening 522 is positioned above the liquid crystal panels 441R, 441B, and 441G of the image forming apparatus 440, and the flexible printed board 4410 extending from the liquid crystal panels 441R, 441B, and 441G is inserted therethrough. Yes.
Each of the two openings 523 has a substantially triangular shape and is formed in the vicinity of the vertex E.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the attachment piece 525 is formed at each of the substantially triangular apexes E and F of the main body 521. Each attachment piece 525 has a hole 52A. A screw (not shown) inserted through the hole 52 </ b> A is screwed into a screw hole 51 </ b> A (FIG. 3) of the component storage member 51, whereby the holding cover body 52 is fixed to the component storage member 51.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the holding cover body 52 as viewed from below (the component storage member 51 side).
As will be described in detail later, the plurality of pressing portions 524 are configured so that, when the holding cover body 52 is fixed to the component storage member 51, each of the optical elements 41 to 43 stored in the component storage member 51 is replaced with a component. Press the storage member 51.
As shown in FIG. 5, the plurality of pressing portions 524 are formed on the lower surface of the holding cover body 52, and include three pressing pieces 5241 </ b> A, 5241 </ b> B, 5241 </ b> C, a protrusion 5242, three columnar protrusions 5243 </ b> A, 5243B and 5243C.

  The pressing piece 5241A is formed in the approximate center of the holding cover body 52, the pressing piece 5241B is formed on the side connecting the vertex E and the vertex F, and the pressing piece 5241C is formed in the vicinity of the vertex F. As shown in FIG. 5, these holding pieces 5241A, 5241B, and 5241C are refracted downward from the surface of the holding cover body 52, and the tip portion has elasticity in the vertical direction with respect to the base end portion. .

As shown in FIG. 5, the protrusion 5242 is formed to protrude downward from the lower surface of the holding cover body 52 in the vicinity of the vertex G of the holding cover body 52.
The columnar protrusion 5243A is formed in the approximate center of the holding cover body 52, the columnar protrusion 5243B is formed in the vicinity of the vertex E, and the columnar protrusion 5243C is formed on the side connecting the vertex E and the vertex G. .

  As shown in FIG. 5, two positioning holes 52 </ b> B are formed at the center of the lower surface of the holding cover body 52. When the holding cover body 52 is fixed to the component storage member 51, the positioning projection 51C of the component storage member 51 is inserted into the positioning hole 52B. This makes it easy to grasp the position of the holding cover body 52 with respect to the component storage member 51.

[Configuration of Cover Body 53]
The configuration of the cover body 53 will be described.
6 is a perspective view of the cover body 53 as viewed from above (the side opposite to the component storage member 51), and FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the cover body 53 as viewed from below (the component storage member 51 side).
As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the cover body 53 has a substantially rectangular shape in plan view. For convenience of explanation, of the four sides constituting the cover body 53, a pair of sides facing each other is H and I, and another pair of sides facing each other is J and K.
Further, the cover body 53 is formed of a material having higher heat resistance than the holding cover body 52. This is because, when the projector 1 is driven, the optical element pressed by the cover body 53 is hotter than the optical element held or pressed by the holding cover body 52.
The cover body 53 includes an opening 532, two attachment portions 533, and a plurality of pressing portions 534.

  Among these, as shown in FIG. 6, the two attachment portions 533 are respectively formed at substantially the centers of the sides H and I of the cover body 53. Each attachment portion 533 has a hole 53A. A screw (not shown) inserted through the hole 53 </ b> A is screwed into a screw hole 51 </ b> B (FIG. 3) of the component storage member 51, whereby the cover body 53 is fixed to the component storage member 51.

As will be described in detail later, the plurality of pressing portions 534 store the respective optical elements 41 and 42 stored in the component storage member 51 when the cover body 53 is fixed to the component storage member 51. Press against member 51.
As shown in FIG. 7, the plurality of pressing portions 534 include a pair of pressing pieces 5341, a pair of pressing pieces 5342, two protrusions 5343 formed on the lower surface of the cover body 53, and one columnar shape. And a protrusion 5344.

As shown in FIG. 7, the pair of pressing pieces 5341 are formed along the side J, and the pair of pressing pieces 5342 are formed along the side K. The presser pieces 5341 and 5342 have elasticity in the vertical direction with respect to the base end part, and the front end parts are refracted downward.
The two protrusions 5343 are formed so as to protrude from the lower surfaces of the sides H and I on the side K side.
The cylindrical protrusion 5344 is formed on the lower surface of the corners of the sides K and I.

[Holding structure of holding cover body 52 and cover body 53 for optical unit 4]
8, the holding cover body 52 and the cover body 53 are held and pressed against the optical unit 4 when the holding cover body 52 and the cover body 53 are fixed to the component storage member 51 (FIGS. 2 and 3). explain.
FIG. 8 is a plan view of the optical unit 4, the holding cover body 52, and the cover body 53 as viewed from below (on the component storage member 51 side).

First, the holding / pressing structure of the holding cover body 52 with respect to the optical unit 4 will be described.
As described above, the holding cover body 52 holds the image forming apparatus 440 in a suspended state by bonding the upper surface of the cross dichroic prism 444 to the prism bonding surface 526. For this reason, the image forming apparatus 440 is not placed on the bottom surface of the component storage member 51 (FIGS. 2 and 3).
Further, the plurality of pressing portions 524 of the holding cover body 52 press each optical element to the bottom surface of the component storage member 51 by pressing the upper surface of each optical element constituting the optical components 41 to 43.
Specifically, the pressing pieces 5241A, 5241B, and 5241C press the upper surfaces of the field lens 419 corresponding to the liquid crystal panel 441G, the incident side lens 431, and the field lens 419 corresponding to the liquid crystal panel 441R, respectively.
Further, the protrusion 5242 presses the upper surface of the field lens 419 corresponding to the liquid crystal panel 441B.
The cylindrical protrusions 5243A and 5243B press the upper surface of the dichroic mirror 422, and the cylindrical protrusion 5243C presses the upper surface of the end of the dichroic mirror 421 on the electro-optical device 44 side.

Next, a structure for holding the cover 53 against the optical unit 4 will be described.
The pressing portion 534 of the cover body 53 presses the upper surface of each optical element of the optical components 41 and 42 of the optical unit 4 and presses each optical element to the bottom surface of the component storage member 51.
Specifically, the pressing piece 5341 has a tip portion refracted downward pressing the upper surface of the first lens array 412. Further, the pressing piece 5342 presses the upper surface of the superimposing lens 415 with the tip refracted downward.
Further, the two protrusions 5343 hold down the upper surface of the polarization conversion element 424, and the columnar protrusion 5344 holds down the upper surface of the end of the dichroic mirror 421 on the integrator illumination optical device 41 side.

According to this embodiment, the following effects can be achieved.
In the present embodiment, since the holding cover body 52 of the optical component housing 5 suspends and holds the image forming apparatus 440, it is not necessary to place and fix the image forming apparatus 440 on the bottom surface of the component storage member 51. That is, since the space S (FIG. 3) in the component storage member 51 on which the image forming apparatus 440 is conventionally placed can be cut out, the component storage member 51 can be reduced in weight. Therefore, the weight of the optical unit 4 can be reduced.

Since the image forming apparatus 440 is integrated with the holding cover body 52, the number of parts when the optical unit 4 is assembled can be reduced, and the optical unit 4 can be easily assembled.
The holding cover body 52 is provided so as to cover only a part of the optical element storage opening 511 of the component storage member 51, that is, a necessary portion for suspending and holding the image forming apparatus 440. Therefore, the optical unit 4 can be reduced in weight as compared with the lid-like member that covers almost the entire surface of the optical element storage opening described in Patent Document 1. Furthermore, the air permeability in the component storage member 51 is good, and the heat dissipation and cooling properties of the heat generated by the optical components 41 to 43 can be improved.

In addition, when the holding cover body 52 is fixed to the component storage member 51, the holding cover body 52 includes a field lens 419, an incident side lens 431, and Since the dichroic mirrors 421 and 422 are pressed by the component storage member 51, it is possible to prevent the optical elements from rattling, displacement, and dropping.
Since the holding cover body 52 has a shape in which most of the surface of the holding cover body 52 is formed by three openings 522 and two openings 523, the weight of the component storage member 51 can be reduced. Since the air permeability of the component housing member 51 is good, it is possible to improve the heat dissipation and cooling properties of heat generated by the optical components 41 to 44.

Further, the cover body 53 presses the first lens array 412, the polarization conversion element 414 and the superimposing lens 415, and the dichroic mirror 421 stored in the component storage member 51 to the component storage member 51 by a plurality of pressing portions 534. Therefore, it is possible to prevent such optical elements from rattling, displacement, and dropping.
Further, the cover body 53 is provided so as to cover only a part of the optical element storage opening 511 of the component storage member 51, that is, a portion necessary for pressing the optical element. Therefore, the optical unit 4 can be reduced in weight as compared with a lid-like member that covers almost the entire surface of the optical element housing opening of the optical component casing as in the projector described in Patent Document 1. Furthermore, since the air permeability in the component housing member 51 can be improved, it is possible to improve the heat dissipation and cooling of the heat generated in the optical element.
Moreover, the cover body which suppresses the 1st lens array 412, the polarization conversion element 414, and the superimposing lens 415 which become high temperature in order to hold down the optical element which comprises the optical components 41-43 by two components, the holding | maintenance cover body 52 and the cover body 53. It is only necessary to use a heat resistant material for 53. Accordingly, the optical unit 4 can be reduced in weight and cost.

[Modification of the embodiment]
The best configuration for implementing the present invention has been disclosed in the above description, but the present invention is not limited to this. That is, since the embodiment does not limit the present invention, description of the names of members excluding some or all of the limitations on the shape, material, etc. is included in the present invention. is there.

In the embodiment, the holding cover body 52 is configured to hold the field lens 419, the incident side lens 431, and the dichroic mirrors 421 and 422 among the optical elements housed in the component housing member 51. Not limited to these, the optical elements that the holding cover body 52 presses may be appropriately determined according to the configuration of the component storage member 51 and each optical element, the usage method of the projector 1, and the like. Similarly, the optical element held by the cover 53 is not limited to this embodiment.
In the embodiment, the cover body 53 is made of a heat resistant material. However, in the present invention, the holding cover body 52 may also be made of a heat resistant material.

In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the optical unit 4 has a substantially L shape in plan view has been described. However, the configuration is not limited thereto, and for example, a configuration having a substantially U shape in plan view may be employed.
In the above embodiment, the transmissive liquid crystal panel 441 having a different light beam incident surface and light beam emission surface is used. However, a reflective liquid crystal panel having the same light incident surface and light emission surface may be used. Good.
Furthermore, although three liquid crystal panels 441R, 441G, and 441B are used in the projector 1 of the embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the present invention can also be applied to a projector using two or four or more liquid crystal panels.

In the above-described embodiment, the projector 1 including the liquid crystal panel 441 is exemplified as the light modulation device. However, the light modulation device that modulates the incident light beam according to the image information to form an optical image has other configurations. A modulation device may be employed.
In the above embodiment, only the front type projector 1 that performs image projection from the direction of observing the screen is illustrated, but the present invention also applies to a rear type projector that projects image from the side opposite to the direction of observing the screen. Applicable.

  The present invention can be used for an optical device built in an optical apparatus such as a projector and a rear projector.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing the internal configuration of the projector according to the first embodiment of the invention. The perspective view of the housing | casing for optical components which concerns on the said embodiment. The perspective view of the components storage member which concerns on the said embodiment. The perspective view which looked at the holding | maintenance cover body which concerns on the said embodiment from upper direction. The perspective view which looked at the holding cover body which concerns on the said embodiment from the downward direction. The perspective view which looked at the cover body concerning the embodiment from the upper part. The perspective view which looked at the cover body concerning the embodiment from the lower part. The schematic plan view for demonstrating the holding | maintenance cover body which concerns on the said embodiment, and the holding | maintenance and pressing structure of a cover body.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Projector, 3 ... Projection lens (projection optical apparatus), 4 ... Optical unit (optical apparatus), 412 ... 1st lens array, 413 ... 2nd lens array, 414 ... Polarization conversion element, 415 ... Superimposition lens, 421 ... Dichroic mirror (separation optical element), 422 ... Dichroic mirror (separation optical element), 431 ... Incident side lens (amplification optical element), 432 ... Reflection mirror (amplification optical element), 433 ... Relay lens (amplification optical element), 434 ... Reflection mirror (amplification optical element), 440... Image forming device, 441, 441 R, 441 G, 441 B... Liquid crystal panel (light modulation device) 444 ... Cross dichroic prism (prism), 5. Component storage member, 511... Optical element storage opening, 52... Holding cover body (holding member), 53. Even members), A ... illumination optical axis.

Claims (6)

Combining a plurality of optical elements that optically convert an incident light beam, a light modulation device that modulates a light beam incident through the plurality of optical elements according to image information, and a light beam modulated by the light modulation device And an optical component in which an illumination optical axis of the light beam is set and the plurality of optical elements and the image forming apparatus are arranged at predetermined positions on the illumination optical axis. An optical device comprising a housing for use,
The optical component casing is:
A component storage member having an optical element storage opening for storing the plurality of optical elements, and storing the optical element at a predetermined position on the illumination optical axis;
A holding member which is provided so as to cover a part of the optical element storage opening with respect to the component storage member, and which suspends and holds the image forming apparatus and is disposed at a predetermined position on the illumination optical axis of the component storage member. And
The optical device, wherein the holding member presses at least one of the optical elements housed in the component housing member against the component housing member. The optical device according to claim 1.
The optical component casing is:
A pressing member provided so as to cover a part of the optical element storage opening with respect to the component storage member, and pressing at least one of the plurality of optical elements stored in the component storage member on the component storage member. An optical device comprising a member. The optical device according to claim 2.
As the plurality of optical elements,
A first lens array having a plurality of first lenses in a plane substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of the incident light beam, and dividing the incident light beam into a plurality of partial light beams by the plurality of first lenses; and the first lens array A second lens array having a plurality of second lenses corresponding to the plurality of first lenses, and a light beam emitting side of the first lens array, wherein the polarization direction of the light beams emitted from the first lens array is approximately A polarization conversion element arranged in one type, and a superimposing lens that superimposes an incident light beam on each image forming region of the plurality of light modulation devices together with the second lens array;
The optical device, wherein the pressing member presses at least one of the first lens array, the second lens array, the polarization conversion element, and the superimposing lens against the component housing member. The optical device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
As the plurality of optical elements, comprising a plurality of separation optical elements for separating an incident light beam into a plurality of color lights,
The optical device, wherein the holding member holds at least one of the plurality of separation optical elements against the component housing member. The optical device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
As the plurality of optical elements, comprising a plurality of amplification optical elements for amplifying the intensity of incident light flux,
The optical device according to claim 1, wherein the holding member holds at least one of the plurality of amplification optical elements against the component housing member.   An optical apparatus according to claim 1, which has a light source and modulates a light beam emitted from the light source to form an optical image, and an optical image formed by the optical apparatus is enlarged and projected. And a projection optical device.

Images